Baffle plate for precooler



May 26, 1942.

T. DE STEFAN] BAFFLE PLATE FOR PRE-COOLER Filed Sept. 26. 1940 2Sheets-Sheet l Patented May 2 6, 1942 a 1 UNITE mm PLATE FOR PREoooLER-Tully De Stefani, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Bas- 1 flan-BlessingCompany,

ration of Illinois Chicago, Ill., a corpo- Application September 26,1940.:S erialNo. 358,39i .(Cl. 62-89) f This invention relates to heattransfer means and more particularly to the provision of bafiie meanswhich are economical in manufacture and highly efiicient in use. a

It is an object of this invention to provide in cabinets of therefrigerator type, a means for dividing such cabinet into a compartmentin tended to contain articles for immediate-use and a second compartmentfor containing articlesifor storage purposes.

Another object of this invention is the provision in cooling cabinetshaving a compartment for transient articles and a compartment forstoring like articles, of a means for dividing the foregoingcompartments and for distributing cooling transfer within the cabinet,

A still further object of this invention is the provision in cabinetsprovided with article'storing magazines, of bafile means for providing aprecooling chamber and for limiting the rate of mentioned application,

means, either manual or autom'atic, not shown, but more particularlydescribed in my afore- The articlestoring magazine may be supported inany suitable manner as for instance the man,- ner pointed out in thedrawings wherein a shaft i6 is centrally supported in a verticalcondition in the cabinet as at I! onthe lower wall of thecabinet andwith any suitable flanged bracket a the member l8 for supporting theupper end of the shaft. The magazine support further beingprovided witha bracket-.mernber I9 spaceda substantial distance above the floor 2E ofthe cabinet and providing an annular flange 2iupon which articlecarrying dollies are supported. It is to be noted that articles 22 inthe magazinel l are adapted to be rotated'with the ,magazineid by anymanual control not shown to bring the articles stored in the magazine ina heat transfer from articles in the precooling chamber into thearticles in the storage magazines. 7

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear morefully in viewof the specification and drawings, wherein Fig, 1 is afragmentary vertical section through a cabinet embodying the presentinvention;-

Fig. 2 is a horizontal plan section as seen from lines 2-2 in Fig. 1; e

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a iing' compartment 24.

portion of the cabinet seen in Figs. 1' and 21am cabinet is providedwith a hinged closure member 2 in the form of a door [3 whereby to gainaccess to the interior of the cabinet.

The cabinet i0 is provided with suitable article storing magazines [4,in the present instance in the form of an article supporting drum [5,wherein articles or units, in the present showing such as bottled goods22, the contents of which are to be kept ina cool and palatablecondition, are retained until removed by any suitable positionpreparatory to exit from the cabinet.

The article supporting means l4, I5, is disposedin the upper area orportion 23 of the interior of the cabinet, there being sufficient roombeneath the su porting bracket IQ for storage of like. articles 22 forthe purpose of pre-cooling the latter priorto their placement in theupper storing magazine. The. space beneath the bracket l9 may thereforebe'termed a pre-cool- In theart of refrigerators it is well-knownprincipal that the temperature variations withinthe cooling compartmentsassume a series of strata varying in temperature and rising in degree asthey'approach the ceiling of the compartment. would cause the heat'ofarticles such as 22' placed in the pre-cooling compartment to trans- Vfer directly to the articles 22 arranged in the higher regions of thecompartment 23.

,To prevent a sudden transfer of heat from the articles in the lowerchamber to those in the higher regions of the upper chamber, applicantprovides'a bafile means 25 in the form of light metal plates 26 and 26'which act as a deflector member with regards the current of cool airdescending from the cooling coils l I.

In the present instance the baflie 25 comprises a pair'of plates, 26'.Each of these plates has a slotted opening 21 formed at one edgethereof.

whereby each of the plates may be positioned in its respectivehalfportion of the interior of the cabinet. The members 26, 26'. are eachprovided with elongated slots 28 formed therein extending in a planeparallel with the slot 21. Each plate is mounted on the under side ofthe brack- Such characteristics of necessity et l9 by means-of a headedmachine screw 29 (Fig.4). and in a mannersuch that each of. the v platesmay be shifted in a direction transversely i with respect to the innerconfines of the cooling cabinet l0. 7

As seen in Fig. 2,the baflle plates 26 and 26' overlap each other andare'of a width as taproalong the rear and front walls thereof. The

baflie further being adjustabl with respect to :vide fixed passages and3| within the cabinetv the width of thecabinet so as" to provide anaddiftional passage at the side walls of the cabinet to completely shut01f or dispense with a P s:

sage at the side walls aforesaid. J 1 The baflle member 25 as heretoforestated acts as a defiectormember of thedescending air currents and byreason of the fact that the air;cur-

sped up in point of time by contracting the plates .26, 26' whereby topermit a greater amount of cooling air currents to descend into theprecooling chamber. While the bafiie plate of my present invention isdisclosed as employed in a refrigerator cabinet having thecharacteristics of an article vending rents play across the surface-ofthe bafile 25 such baffle would in use become a part of theitemaperature regulating system in that it would assume a temperaturecommensurate with the interior temperature of. the cabinet- The bafile'.7

plate being suspended above the pre-cooling chamber, by reason ofits'heat transferring prop erties would provide for the articles 2 2" inthe pre cooling' chamber; a means forunifo'rmly transferring the heatfrom said articles.

device, it is obvious that the objects and advantages of the baffleplate is applicable to all types I 'of refrigeratorcabinets for thepurpose and economies intended.

While, I-have illustrated and described the preferred form ofconstruction for carrying my m vention'into effect, this is capable ofvariation and'modification without departing from the spirit of theinvention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precisedetails of construc- V -tion; set forth but desire to avail myself ofsuch The heat which rises from the articles 22' would directly contactthe bottom surface of the1bafiie'25 andthereby be dissipated beforerising to the upper areas of the dispensingflchamber 23. The

baflie 25 absorbs the greater quantity of heat which rises fromtheiart'icles in the pre-cooling chamber and by reason of its being inthe path of. descending cool air currents will makethe heat transfer agradual process thereby-assuring that the cooling coils ,I I maysufficiently extract the heat transferred from the articles withoutdan-i ger of. a great 'amount ec n in the 4 upper area, of thedispensing compartment.

- The passages and 3| provided at thefront and side walls ofthe'interior of the cabinet per:

mit a descension of a portionof the cooling air currents into thepre-cooling chamber so that the heat transferringaction may take placeb'etween the articles. 22f and'thebaflie 25." The; quantity of articlesstored'in the pr'e-c'ooling, chamber usually varies according to thestool: on hand for this reasonthe baflie' memberisadjustable on3 pin{and slot mountings 29-28.

Whenthe chamber 24 filled to its maximum capacity the plates 26 and 26'of the baille mem her will be'extendedonth'epin and slot mountclaim asnewand desire variations and modifications as come within the scope ofthe appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I to protect by Letters 'Patentis a 1. In'combination with a refrigerator cabinet having a dispensingchamber with article sup- 7 .portingf means disposed therein, and apre-cooling chamber arranged'belowsaid dispensing chamber, of bafilemeans suspended from said article supporting means, said baiile meanscomprising corresponding slidableportions whereby f communicationbetween said dispensing chamber r as described.

and said pre-cooling chamber may be varied.

2. In: combination, a refrigerator cabinet, an article supporting shaftpositioned vertically withinsaid cabinet;baflie means supported by theshaft within the refrigerator cabinet and dividing the cabinet into anupper cooling chamber and a lower precooling chamber, said baiile meanscomprising oppositely arranged semicircular plates, and means'foradjustably connecting the plates together, whereby said plates may be ad'J'usted so as to increase or decrease the distance 'betweenitheperiphery of the plates and the adjacent inner walls of the cabinet,substantially TULLY DE STEFANI.

